Fukuoka is a sprawling city (area: 340 sq km) with a population of 1,426,040 (August, 2007) located in Northern Kyushu on the shore of Hakata Bay. It is the largest city on the island of Kyushu and the region's commercial and academic center. Fukuoka has an international airport, international ferry service, and is the southern terminus of Japan's Shinkansen (Bullet Train). Fukuoka is the home of the 1999 and 2003 Japan Series Champions Fukuoka Softbank Hawks (in Japanese)(formerly the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks) of the Pacific League of Japanese professional baseball and also the home of the Fukuoka Avispa professional soccer teams. The Hawks play in the Yahoo Fukuoka Dome, with its retractable roof, which opened in the spring of 1993.